GONE GIRL

On the occasion of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne reports that his wife, Amy, has gone missing. Under pressure from the police and a growing media frenzy, Nick's portrait of a blissful union begins to crumble. Soon his lies, deceits and strange behavior have everyone asking the same dark question: Did Nick Dunne kill his wife?

Written by Twentieth Century Fox -- IMDb

I put GONE GIRL at the top of my watch list this week. And, indeed, it is probably the best on offer of the new releases. But it's definitely not a great movie. I'm a bit surprised that so many movie critics are raving about it. In my opinion, it's pretty average. It feels like a well made tele-movie one might watch from a sick bed at midday.

The premise for GONE GIRL is quite clever. But the script lacks all subtlety - Gillian Flynn, the author of the book on which the movie is based, is also responsible for the screenplay. This may be the problem. Sometimes authors of books are too protective of their work to be able to transform their stories to a new medium. There are scenes in GONE GIRL that may very well work in the novel. But, on screen, they come across as completely overdone, ridiculous and unbelievable.

Character development is shallow, the most interesting characters being the female detective and Affleck's sister. Affleck and ??? were unconvincing and the movie felt like the length it was - well over two hours. Emotionally, it fails to engage. I felt as though I was an observer of the unfolding events rather than feeling involved. 

Overall, a disappointing movie.

***